A Christmas to Remember

We decided to hunker down and stay in Vermont this year for the holidays. With the second baby coming in a little over a month and family feeling like they wanted to stick around their own homes, it ended up being just our nuclear family. It did feel somewhat strange to be so close, yet so far away from family, but we managed to arrange for various engagements with friends and were really looking forward to the variety they would add to our traditional holiday repertoire........ This was to include a fun gathering of folks for a seven course fish dinner prepared by our friend Lauren who is a professional chef on X-mas Eve and a Turkey feast at our house with our friends Chris, Rebecca, and Chase.

As is often the case, it's always good to have a plan B........ It turns out, our gal Cal got her first stomach bug on Thursday night. She was as thrown off by the whole thing as we were. It needs to be explained that it is these such incidents that scared me the most about becoming a parent. Years ago, I basically made John sign a "pre-nup" that stated that he'd be the one to deal with these messes when they come. Alas, the time came and it became glaringly apparent that it helps to have a two-person roster on the clean up team--- one person cleans up the kid while the other cleans up the "site". So, even at 35-weeks pregnant, I managed to just deal with the situation with a lot less squeamishness than I imagined I would have had and John willingly dealt with more than his fair share.

Kids are pretty amazing. Cal woke up on Friday and she was pretty much good to go. She said she wanted breakfast and seemed to have her sense of humor and energy. Even so, we called our hosts for the 7 Fishes Dinner and told them we'd sadly have to decline the invitation. Later in the day, after consultation with a friend in the medical profession who said that if Cal was asymptomatic for 24 hours, she'd probably be good to go to the party and a call from the hosts saying they really were fine with us coming if Cally seemed all right, we decided to go for it. We loaded into the car, drove 40 minutes south, settled into their cozy house, accepted a glass of wine, and within 15 minutes, poor little Cally had barfed on the counter of their gourmet kitchen.

To say that we felt horrible is an understatement. We felt so bad for our little gal who was clearly not well and was so looking forward to hanging out with other kids, but we also felt like J.V. parents for having brought a sick kid to a family gathering. We deserve any razzing that they had to throw our way after that one.

Fortunately, I'd purchased a chunk of wild salmon at the store earlier in the day (thinking we weren't going to the party) and that was still in the fridge. So, upon putting our sick little girl to bed (but making sure that she left some cookies and celery for Santa and his reindeer before she retired), John and I actually had a lovely, intimate X-mas Eve dinner together.



Cal woke up early in the morning and asked to come into our bed. We had our reservations, but she was just too darn cute and snuggly, so we acquiesced and she slept until 8am. Even when we told her that Santa had come and asked if she wanted to see what he had for her, she seemed nonplussed and even uninterested. But we riled her up and brought her downstairs to see the loot. Poor thing had a hard time getting all too excited about things.


We figured a little breakfast would make her feel better........ But that didn't turn out to be the case, she got sick while eating her breakfast, told us she was hungry 20 minutes later, and then got sick again (yes, we officially are J.V. parents for feeding a kid right after she gets sick). With that, we officially postponed the feast planned with our friends and hunkered down for a lazy day:


trying hard to hydrate:

Alas, after a nap, Cal was back to herself and took some time to enjoy the loot that she could hardly acknowledge hours earlier.



While it wasn't really the Christmas that had been mapped out in our heads, it turned out to be very special and intimate indeed.

Oh, and here's Cally singing about one of her many gifts, a pair of red ski boots:

I'm Two!

It's hard to believe that this girl is two! She's been acting like she's two for months, but now it's official! Already, we struggle about how we will honor her special day which falls so close to Christmas. We worry that she'll feel gypped by the fact that she only gets presents one time a year, that it'll be hard to gather friends for birthday parties so close to the holidays, etc. etc. But so far, she doesn't seem to mind at all. Especially when she gets to help bake her cupcakes.


This year, we decided to combine her birthday celebration with a welcoming of the winter solstice, the holidays, and her father's doctoral degree. So, we invited a bunch of our friends and their kids over to sled, eat cup cakes, and play. Cally didn't know what to think about all these people singing happy birthday to her. She actually looked sort of embarrassed.






I think one of her favorite parts of the party, was getting to hold Baby Milo (9 weeks).


Today, we celebrated with a birthday raisin bran muffin and presents in the morning.



Here's a clip of her opening a present from Grandma and Bumpa........ please note, no one was injured by the bike seat being a bit too high:




This afternoon, we picked "Little Miss Sunshine" up from Meike's and drove through a snow storm to Stowe so she could go to the Swimming Hole (she only asks us about 10 times a day if she can go back there). She was in heaven........ I think she took twelve trips up and down the slide:


We met up with her "Uncle's" Scott and Tom for dinner in Waterbury, but within minutes of being in the restaurant, it was clear that "Little Miss Sunshine" was not feeling all that sunshinny......... she snuggled up with her daddy and actually fell asleep in his arms for most of the meal (which is pretty much a first). To bed, our birthday girl went with a 101 degree fever! Hopefully, this spunky little fire cracker will be back on her game tomorrow.

Congratulations Dr. Abbott!

He did it! After all the hard work, John defended his doctoral dissertation on Monday. In front of his committee, colleagues, students, cohort members, and friends, he explained his research and answered some thoughtful questions before getting "grilled" by his committee behind closed doors.



With some moderate coaching, the first thing Cally said to her dad upon seeing him after the defense was, "Congratulations Dr. Abbott". It pretty much brought tears to his eyes.



We're both so proud of you, Dr. Abbott! We look forward to spending all sorts of family time together now that your eyes don't have to be glued to that enormous computer screen.

What a Long Strange Week it has Been

Our week started out in a fairly predictable way. John, frantically continued editing "the beast" (a.k.a. his dissertation), Cally hung out with Meike and Nate, and I went to school. On Tuesday, I got the stomach flu (which stinks any way you slice it, but triply sucks when you are 8 months pregnant and have an almost 2-year old daughter who doesn't quite get it when she's told her Mom is "sick").

On Wednesday, I arrived home to this:


A huge wind storm rocketed through this part of the world, devastating tons and tons of trees and some unfortunate homes. One such tree happened to fall in our back yard-- within feet of our porch. Power was knocked out, school was canceled on Thursday, and the buzz of chain saws has been heard almost constantly since then.



John managed to finish his edits by candlelight on Wednesday and Thursday nights and submitted the beast for final review by his committee. With a huge sigh of relief and anxious anticipation of the defense next week, we both reveled in the idea of having some uninterrupted family time.

We've still got a long way to go with the clean up, but we did take a break to buy a Christmas tree with Cally on Saturday:






And somehow, amongst the chaos, this girl let us know that she can count to seven (though in this video she stopped at five)

Giving Thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Mostly, we are thankful for this spitfire of a red head who is almost two and continually making us smile. But we are also thankful for all the wonderful visitors we had over the holiday break.

Tuesday night, John's fantastic friend from his days at Bates, Alex, and his family came over to visit from Maine. They were heading up to McGill University so that their older daughter, Zoe, could check it out. They found a great hostel right off of St. Denis Street in the Latin Quarter, so we booked a room and joined them.


It was chilly up there, but we all bundled up and took to the streets:


We had dinner at a favorite Ethiopian restaurant and breakfast at a creperie. Both places were delicious, but as is the case with any culture outside of the US, the service was slow. Even so, Cally held it together for a 2 1/2 hour dinner and hour and a half breakfast.


We made it back to Vermont by 1pm on Thursday. Cally took a power nap and then we headed over to the Ganzenmuller's for the feast with the Harris/Plimpton clan. Two years ago, when Cally's arrival was imminent, we stuck around Vermont for the holidays. This year, John needed to keep his nose to the grindstone and write (t-minus 14 days until his big defense), so again we celebrated our day of thanks with our community of friends.


Cally got to sit at the kids table and was well taken care of all afternoon by Timmy, Augie, Tanner, Claire, and Addy. There really isn't anything cuter than a six year old boy putting Cally's shoes on for her or checking to make sure her bib is on correctly or just making sure that she's not left out.


As is the case with almost every gathering with the kids of the Wombat gals, there is a performance. This year, Addy and Claire practiced and performed a fantastic "play". It involved at least seven acts, costume changes, and lots of singing. Cally was pretty excited to get to watch.



Friday afternoon, another one of John's friends from Bates came by for a visit with his kids (he lives in Blue Hill, ME, but grew up here in Jericho, VT). That night, we took Cally to a UVM hockey game. She LOVED it. Not only did she get to ride a bus for the first time (from the parking lot to the game), but she got to see Rally Cat (the UVM mascot).


She actually did watch a bit of the game and she got excited when the fans cheered, but Rally Cat became her obsession. When she finally got to meet him, she gave him a high five or two, but got a little bashful about giving him a hug...........

UVM was playing Northeastern and it ended in a 2-2 tie.

Saturday afternoon, Micheal, Elizabeth and Dean came over for a visit (friends we recently visited from Brooklyn) along with our friends Jen, Nils and their boys. Cally was pretty excited to try Elizabeth's fancy boots on and play with Dean.




That night, our friend's Tom and Kara had offered to babysit, so we decided to go on a date. Cally ended up having not just Tom and Kara watch her, but Scott and Cynthia, as well. I guess she got to watch football and drink beer.


And now it's Sunday. Cally's napping and when she wakes up, we'll head over to Stowe to go swimming with her cousin's, Kesley and Jameson, return home to see Uncle Mark who will be staying the night after dropping her cousin Chris off at Champlain College, and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour so that we can all reacclimate to waking up early.

We really are thankful to have so many special people in Cally's life-- who visit us and add so much to our lives. Each morning, when Cally and I go on a walk with Zephy, she sits in the backpack and recounts the people she's seen. We feel fortunate to have so many people out there who add to the little spirit she is becoming.

Again, Daddy, Again!

Some would say we are totally irresponsible........ others would say we are true adventurers. Whatever is the case, we certainly made John's 45th Birthday a special one.

Yesterday, our friend, Scott let us throw a family birthday party for John up at High Meadow-- the gorgeous spot where Cally got to spend the first two months of her life. Every time we drive up the long driveway to the property, I get a warm feeling. We were so lucky to be able to call this place home (while our own home was being built) back in the fall and winter of 2008-2009:



And so, it makes sense that when it came to celebrating "half-way to the grave" Birthday, he requested that we have a bonfire up at High Meadow. However, since it is November and some might consider it a little cold for an outdoor party, Scott offered up the cabin. 15 rug rats and 30 adults came together to honor this guy:


The guy that I only officially started dating four years ago, but who has continued to amaze me-- as a father, a writer, an outdoors man, beloved advisor/mentor, friend, and husband.


He'd do absolutely anything for his family and so this morning, when I asked him how he'd like to spend his actual birthday (the day after his very fun party up at High Meadow), he decided to combine his two loves: family and skiing. We've always said that we would never be those people who ski with their kid in a backpack at a ski area. It just seemed reckless-- the potential for someone else hitting you seemed too high. However, we decided that skiing at a ski area before it opens might be all right. So this afternoon we headed up to Stowe, where enough snow has fallen to make it possible to skin and ski down. We bundled Cally up in warm clothes, loaded her in a backpack and slowly trudged up the hill. Because I'm 30 weeks pregnant, slow was the operative word.



Cally loved the hike, but that's nothing new for her. The biggest surprise was how fired up she was about being on John's back for the ski down. If only we had a video to share. Alas, a written description is all we can offer. From the moment John started down, Cally was beaming from ear to ear and laughing with glee. When John would stop to "regroup", she'd immediately say, "Again, Daddy, Again". Her cheeks got rosey and her nose was clearly cold, but she was having so much fun!


Now the skiing itself-- well that was marginal, but just seeing the excitement in Cally's eyes made it all so worth while (core shots from rocks and all!).


We don't plan to do the backpack thing on the mountain once it's open, but now we are thinking that our almost 2 year old might be ready to give skiing a try this season. Before going to bed tonight she said, "Daddy, I love skiing". Now that is music to our ears!